November 02, 2007

365 Days #306 - Disco Sickness (mp3s)

This collection is the result of turning over rocks and finding moldy old forgotten relics of the disco craze. Disco music seemed to everywhere in the late '70s, and then seemingly vanished by the '80s, all parties waking up with a hangover and acting like these records never existed. In hindsight, it seems like a kind of mass hysteria, but it was no accident - the music business made a concerted effort to promote disco in their attempt to find a sure-fire hit-making formula, and disco records were cranked out with factory-like efficiency. It was expected that everyone - lounge singers, ethnic acts, rock'n'rollers, easy-listening band leaders, children's music makers - would make at least one token disco songs. This collection compiles a small sampling of miscellaneous album tracks, singles, and one-off studio groups. There's a lot of boring, assembly-line stuff out there, but to the dedicated record hound, the rewards for sifting through it all are ample - a collection of the best of these records is ridiculously entertaining.

Some of these performers meant to funny, like Count Floyd, aka Joe Flaherty of the "SCTV" comedy tv series, popular (and still performing) Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl, and "Sesame Street," whose lavishly-produced "Sesame Street Fever" album has never been released on CD. Others records were by veterans jumping on the bandwagon, like lounge legend Sam Butera of the Louis Prima band, Moog pioneer Mort Garson, easy-listening star Ronnie "Twin Pianos" Aldrich, and Lawrence Welk's accordion-wielding polka-meister Myron Floren.

Self-produced outsider/DIY releases featured occasional disco numbers as well, such those by teenaged organ soloist Joe Tripoli Jr, and the Ramapo Valley Chorus, a female a capella vocal group still active in Northern California. At the other end of the professionalism scale, slick studio groups under a variety of "group names" cranked out novelties derived from horror ("Soul Dracula"), TV themes ("I Love Lucy"), even rip-offs of other disco hits, like the martial arts/Chinese titles released in the wake of Carl Douglas' hit "Kung Fu Fighting" - the group El Chicles even released a whole album of the stuff under the name "The Chinese Fighters."

Some of the most fascinating records are from artists of other countries or ethnicities, who fused their style with disco to create some pretty wonderful mutants, e.g.: Raja's Middle Eastern belly-dancing music, Enzo Lupo and Freddie Ventura's Brazilian samba, and the Latin influence of Mexico's La Sinfonica de J.B. And then there's In Touch's exotic/Latin/Moog take on the Beegees that's just inexplicable.

A large chunk of Americans resented disco's ubiquity, and it all came to a head in 1979 when Steve Dahl, whose "D'Ya Think I"m Disco" was one of the most pointed disco satires, led the anarchic "Disco Demolition" event: "Originally crafted as a radio promotion, Dahl asked listeners to bring their disco records and $0.98 to Chicago's Comiskey Park (home of the White Sox) so he could blow up the LPs and put an end to disco forever. With Dahl leading the "Disco Sucks" chant, an estimated 90,000 fans and listeners showed up to storm the field and joined him in setting fire to thousands of disco records."

Which is good news for us - collectors consider these records worthless, and we get 'em for dirt cheap. This music is stayin' alive, stayin' alive, ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive.

Comments

Born in the mid-Seventies, my first "favorite album" was a weird compilation called Spaced Out Disco Fever, which featured disco renditions of the themes to Close Encounters, Star Wars and Star Trek before bizarrely giving way to hits of the day like Randy Newman's "Short People" and Queen's "We Are The Champions."

"Close Encounters" was always my favorite song on the album, and it was credited to The Wonderball Orchestra. I've since heard a version by Meko, but this is the first time I've heard the Ronnie Aldrich one, an arrangement that is raw enough to possibly be the earliest version of this disco redux.

Anyone know who was the original auteur of this blissfully incredible disco number? What genius may I thank for crafting this indelible ditty onto my 3-year-old brain? Meko? Aldrich? Other?

Thank you for reuniting me with that Steve Dahl single. That, along with Jimmy Lalumia & The Psychotic Frogs "Death to Disco", were the anthems of my early teen years... (Now, of course, there is a warm spot in my heart for the stuff... The cheesier the better...)

"...If God had wanted disco, he would not. have. created. other. music musicmusicmusicmusi..."

Thanks for an excellent post of simply dreadful disco tunes. As a disco DJ back then, I well remember some of these tunes, some of which would arrive in the mail amongst other, better quality record company 'mailing list' stuff. Others were given away to DJ's at the local record stores, in the vain hope that the jocks may give 'em an airing!

I distinctly remember having a 'lively discussion' with a record plugging company, when I informed them that the "Disco Lucy" record they'd sent through to me was the worst disco record ever.... and a waste of 12" vinyl! Needless to say the MD of the plugging company disagreed. Time, I think, to stand up and take the shame, eh Mr Redfearn?? The sad thing is that I can still remember the 'Lucy' tune, and am now unconsciously humming it!

I also remember the Steve Dahl event in 1979, which prompted a disco backlash here in the UK, with people ditching their white JT-style suits, Bee Gees hairy chest wigs and medallions, and the local Daily Mail leading the lemmings with their article "Dumping Disco In The Bin".

"The Ethel Merman Disco Album" is also worth a listen. It consists of her belting out showtunes with disco bass lines and drum beats. Perhaps the best track is "I Got Rhythm" - it starts out with a more or less straight rendition before becoming discofied. Somewhere in the middle, there's a spit-take-inducing banjo break (still with disco accompaniment).

"Disco music seemed to everywhere in the late '70s, and then seemingly vanished by the '80s, all parties waking up with a hangover and acting like these records never existed."

This couldn't be further from the truth. House music is a direct modified genetic clone of Disco. More than half of all House tracks from somewhere in the 80's to present day contain samples and loops and sometimes full vocals or entire remakes from original disco tracks. I recently discovered a disco collection for sale from a disco DJ from the 70's who had passed away and going through the stacks I am finding that more often than not the house records that I thought were so original for the past 14 or so years are really just recycled disco and straight up stolen from disco records and often the original source is not cited and I doubt they paid royalties for stealing from most of these records. This whole this has been a bit disheartening but also a huge lesson in real disco for me!

Yep, good point Derek. When I first heard house in the late '80s my first thought was "This is disco!" But by the '80s disco really had dropped out of sight so far as mainstream culture was concerned: disco powerhouse Casablanca Records went out of business, groups like the BeeGees denied they were disco acts, dance clubs switched to new wave, the Village People even tried to go new wave (!) which Grace Jones actually did succeed in doing. Really, only the gay clubs of Chicago and Detroit kept that little flicker of disco alive for years, away from the mainstream.

Yeah, disco disappeared from the Top 40 completely, and people stopped making it after 1981. The House Music came a few years later, but I defy you to name me a House Music single that got into the Top 40 in the US. Are you gonna say The KLF? No, that wasn't authentic house music.